


Prodigal Son

by purplehairedwonder



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brief reference to the Law novel, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplehairedwonder/pseuds/purplehairedwonder
Summary: It was three years after Rosinante betrayed him and Law disappeared that Doflamingo heard the first rumor of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Relationships: Donquixote Doflamingo & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	Prodigal Son

It was three years after Rosinante betrayed him and Law disappeared that Doflamingo heard the first rumor of the Ope Ope no Mi. Fresh off his takeover of Dressrosa and in the process of solidifying his position as Shichibukai, Doflamingo kept his ear to the ground for intriguing stories. Joker was a successful underworld broker exactly because he listened to rumors and sifted fact from fiction like panning for gold.

Rumor, Doflamingo had found, was often more valuable than gold.

According to his contact, rumor was circulating among certain circles in the North Blue that someone using the Ope Ope no Mi had defeated an infamous pirate captain, the user of the Dero Dero no Mi. Doflamingo wasn’t particularly interested until—

“ _Where_ was this?” he hissed, spine straightening as though he’d used one of his strings.

“I think it was called Pleasure Town,” his contact repeated, voice halting slightly at Doflamingo’s tone. “On some place called, uh, Swallow Island.”

Doflamingo’s hand tightened around the Den Den Mushi, veins in the back of his hand pulsing. _Could it be?_

Of course, the likeliest scenario was that the boy was long dead on Minion Island. Law would have been weeks, if not days, from death from Amber Lead Disease—not to mention his beating from Vergo. Law hadn’t been on the Marine ship as they’d thought that fateful night, but he must have been nearby when the Birdcage fell; in his state, he couldn’t have gotten far. Even if he _had_ eaten the Ope Ope no Mi as Rosinante said he had, he was unlikely to have mastered the Devil Fruit in time to perform such a delicate operation to save his own life.

No, if this latest rumor was true, this Ope Ope user had most likely eaten the fruit after it regenerated.

Still, Doflamingo considered. He’d gone over the scenarios countless times since that night, looking for any reason to believe the boy was still alive. Law had always been a clever and resourceful kid—there was a reason Doflamingo had offered to train him as his second in command. He did not make such offers lightly; his executives were carefully vetted, and he only kept the very best at his side. And Law…

Law was a survivor.

They had that, among many things, in common; he saw so much of himself in the boy and felt certain he had the potential to turn the world upside down—at Doflamingo’s side, of course.

Eyes flicking to the empty Heart throne, Doflamingo’s frown deepened. It was true the seat hadn’t been filled since Rosinante’s betrayal despite quiet rumblings from the others. That seat, once filled by Vergo and his brother, was meant for Doflamingo’s righthand man. If he was being honest with himself, Doflamingo still expected Law to take the seat as the third Corazon. The boy was _his_ , and Doflamingo didn’t let that which was his go so easily.

Yes, there was a chance—if the smallest of them—that this was Law. Had he survived, Doflamingo mused, he would be sixteen now.

“Monet!” he called after hanging up his call.

“Young Master?” she asked a few minutes later, stepping inside the room and shutting the door behind her as she answered the summons.

“Monet,” Doflamingo greeted, gears already turning as he plotted. “How would you feel about taking a trip to the North Blue for me?”

* * *

Doflamingo hadn’t been surprised when Monet had come up empty on Swallow Island. Though her search was thorough, there was no sign of Law. But more interesting to Doflamingo was the reaction of the inhabitants of Pleasure Town once Monet had started asking questions; they had closed ranks tightly, adamantly and without hesitation denying that anyone matching Law’s description had been there at any time. Ever.

 _He was there_. Doflamingo grinned, lips quirking ferally, as Monet reported via Den Den Mushi. He was certain of it. He had been there, and he was the Ope Ope no Mi user who had saved that town. They were protecting him.

Law had survived and he was out there somewhere.

Doflamingo felt that familiar possessive feeling curling behind his breast as he thought about Law being alive. _Mine_.

* * *

Doflamingo could be patient.

Especially when the key to his immortality was out there waiting to be brought home.

* * *

Years passed.

The rumors became more frequent: in the North Blue, a pirate using the Ope Ope no Mi was starting to gain a reputation. They called him the Surgeon of Death.

If Doflamingo had any doubts about this being Law (he didn’t), the nickname would have sealed it. It did amuse him, though. The boy always had had a flair for the dramatics.

Doflamingo kept up with the rumors. And he remained patient. Law would come home when it was time to take his rightful place.

They were a Family, after all.

* * *

Doflamingo sat at the head of the table by the pool, reading the recently arrived paper, when he heard Baby 5 gasp. He looked up over the newspaper to see the girl—young woman now, he supposed—holding a wanted poster that must have fallen from the paper, her features gone pale.

“Baby 5?” Giolla asked, concerned.

“It’s…” Baby 5 trailed off, blinking surprised tears.

“What is it, girl?” Diamante demanded.

Baby 5 turned the wanted poster around silently.

Doflamingo barely heard the surprised noises as he focused in on face in the poster. The face was older than the last time Doflamingo had seen it—of course it was; against all odds, he’d grown up—but the fiery gold eyes and sharp bone structure were achingly familiar. His fingers itched to touch the skin, to feel the matured features of a boy he’d seen so much promise in, to see what kind of man he had become in his absence.

He was still wearing the hat, Doflamingo realized with a snort.

And that smirk.

Doflamingo’s lips turned up in response. That smirk was as much a part of him as that damn hat.

There were no white patches on his skin. He’d truly cured himself, it seemed. He’d mastered the Ope Ope no Mi.

 _Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death. User of the Ope Ope no Mi_ , the poster read. It wasn’t a bad bounty for a first timer, though Doflamingo knew Law was worth far more than the beris the World Government had listed. As far as Doflamingo was concerned, Law was priceless.

“He’s alive,” Baby 5 mumbled through quivering lips. She’d always had a soft spot for the boy, no matter how much he glared at her. It had broken her heart to realize Law might never come home after Minion Island.

“Doffy.” Doflamingo blinked and looked over at Diamante, who was frowning at the poster. “It says Law’s Captain of the Heart Pirates.”

Doflamingo threw his head back and roared in laughter.

* * *

Later, Trebol frowned over the poster as the executives gathered in the Suit room. “Ne, Doffy. This is treason.” The unsaid, _You know how we deal with traitors_ hung on the air.

Doflamingo waved a dismissive hand. “The boy is finding himself.”

The other executives looked skeptical, but Doflamingo ignored them. Law was still the Family’s—still Doflamingo’s. Even years away wouldn’t change that hold they held on him.

“Should we bring him back?” Diamante asked finally after exchanging looks with Trebol and Pica.

“No need. He’ll come to us.”

“You think so?”

Doflamingo’s gaze lingered on the unoccupied Heart throne. “Everyone comes home eventually.”

* * *

When Law’s bounty hit 200,000,000 beris, Doflamingo raised a glass of wine in his honor. He always knew the boy had it in him, especially if any of the rumors were true about why his bounty was rising at the rate it was. It seemed they still had much in common.

They were calling him one of the eleven supernova, super rookies with bounties over 100,000,000 beris. Doflamingo couldn’t think of a better description for Trafalgar Law. Even as a child, he’d burned bright—a cosmic explosion of grief and rage contained in a tiny, sick body.

Doflamingo wanted to see everything he would do now that he was grown. He _wanted_.

* * *

Doflamingo realized in hindsight that he shouldn’t have been surprised Law was present at his auction house in Sabaody on that infamous afternoon. After keeping a low profile for years in the North Blue, Law seemed to have thrown caution to the wind once he’d entered the Grand Line as he acted on his more… theatrical impulses—ones Doflamingo had always appreciated. His presence at one of Doflamingo’s businesses might as well have been a flashing sign that Law would soon be returning home. The auction house was a bust anyway, with Doflamingo’s business interests turning elsewhere. It served its last purpose by giving him an update on the boy he was waiting for.

By all reports, Law had overwhelmed the Marine forces that surrounded the auction house alongside two other flashy rookies. He drank in every version of story he could of that fight, picking apart every detail of how the boy had mastered the Ope Ope no Mi.

It was thrilling.

Yes, Doflamingo knew he’d been right about the boy all along. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on him again.

_Mine._

* * *

He didn’t hear until after the battle was over that Law had appeared at Marineford and rescued Monkey D. Luffy and Jinbei. The only reason he didn’t turn his fury on Kizaru for targeting a member of his Family was that Law had apparently escaped (of course). It was weeks later, but he and that garish yellow submarine of his had been spotted again and his bounty only continued to rise.

Akainu was furious.

Doflamingo cackled.

* * *

Rocky Port…

Well, Doflamingo only wished he could have been there.

He couldn’t wait for Law to come home. It wouldn’t be long; he could feel it.

* * *

Doflamingo let out a bark of surprised laughter when he heard that Law was being appointed Shichibukai. His lips curled upward as he listened to the details about Law’s stunt of bringing one hundred beating pirate hearts to the Marines.

The boy had truly learned his lessons well.

At only 26, Law would be the youngest pirate to ever hold the title of Warlord.

And, Doflamingo considered with a growing smile, it meant that two members of the Family now held the position. For pirate captain _and_ his second-in-command to be Shichibukai… Well, the Donquixote Family was already feared across the Blues. The opportunities this could provide would be… inexhaustible. SMILE would be the tip of the iceberg.

And yet… Doflamingo could feel the tendrils of doubt taking root in the back of his mind. For years, Law had kept his head down in the North Blue, somehow avoiding Doflamingo’s reach. Doflamingo could explain that away as the boy, who always had an independent streak a mile wide, making his own way on the seas—a sentiment Doflamingo respected. But since entering the Grand Line over three years earlier, Law hadn’t shied away from notoriety.

He also hadn’t reached out to the Family, though he undoubtedly knew they were aware of his… activities. He knew the type of Family they were and that they would be waiting for him.

That the Heart seat was waiting for him.

Doflamingo didn’t like having doubts about that which was his.

And Law had been his since he was 10 years old _._

* * *

“Young Master, someone showed up on Punk Hazard today…”


End file.
